3 ms·

Anecdotal.. But when I first got into the tech industry I went to job interviews (In SF) in a full suit. I was alway told that you want to go to interview "dres

Anecdotal.. But when I first got into the tech industry I went to job interviews (In SF) in a full suit. I was alway told that you want to go to interview "dressed for success". It wasn't until I dressed down to jeans and a long sleeve button up that I actually got an offer. Honestly, I think no matter what environment you're in you have a better chance of success if you play to your audience a bit.

Reedx 7y ago
Yeah, wearing a suit for a tech/game job interview will only hurt your odds and it definitely won't help. It's rare when someone interviews in a suit, but when they do it comes up in evaluations and not as a positive indicator.
- Traster 7y ago
  It's hilarious that we've come full circle on that. It was dropped because it was absurd that you'd need to wear a suit in order to be a good engineer especially when you never see a customer. It's equally absurd to suggest that wearing a suit makes you any less qualified- but everyone has seen that one movie where Steve Jobs acts like a douche and hey presto! The entirity of SV ends up exactly as judgey as Wall Street but in exactly the opposite direction.
  - sushid 7y ago
    I've only had one interviewee dress in a full suit and he was the worst candidate I ever interviewed in my life. Couldn't write a line of Java although his resume claimed he had over 12 years of experience using mostly Java. Knew nothing about insertion time of arrays which I threw as a freebie when I realized I wasn't going to hire him anyway. It could just show that the candidate is out of touch with the tech scene, which might mean that they're not going to do as well as some other candidates. I do agree it discriminates against those who may not be from the area or from a traditional background, but SV is nowhere as "exactly as judgey as Wall Street." SV as a whole is way more meritocratic and willing to take a chance on smart candidates. Try telling Goldman that you're a hard working candidate who has been studying up econ and finance textbooks on your own and would like an internship. Lastly, discriminating against someone for NOT wearing a $1k sounds a lot worse than wearing one. You can always dress down but not everyone can dress up!
    - Traster 7y ago
      Well obviously there ARE clear differences between SV and Wallstreet- but largely those barriers come from more concrete places. If you are managing money you generally have regulatory and fiduciary responsibilities. For example, you can't expect to be hired as an accountant without a requisite CPA exams. Whereas there simply aren't the same systems in place for most places in SV. It's worth noting that this is part of the reason SV gets a bad wrap when it moves into regulated areas with the attitude "Let's disrupt"
    - groby_b 7y ago
      > SV as a whole is way more meritocratic and willing to take a chance on smart candidates. That was funny. Have you tried doing standup? Yes, there are startups that do take those chances. But SV as a whole... not really. It's just as bad on using degrees as a filter as any other place. > Try telling Goldman that you're a hard working candidate who has been studying up econ and finance textbooks on your own and would like an internship. Try telling that to a large number of companies in SV and you'll find similar results. > Lastly, discriminating against someone for NOT wearing a $1k sounds a lot worse than wearing one. It sounds about equally bad to me. It's not a matter what people can or cannot do about it, it's about the fact that you use completely irrelevant details to guide your decision.
      - sushid 7y ago
        > That was funny. Have you tried doing standup? What's with the "witty" personal remarks? My comment wasn't directed at anyone personally so I'm not sure why you're trying to make it personal. There are definitely non-traditional candidates that get hired at large, public SV companies (e.g. FB, GOOG, UBER, etc.), some without even a degree. These guys worked hard to stand out with personal projects and countless hours of self-study and are definitely the exception to the norm, sure, but you can't even find an equivalent of that in investment banking and certainly not at hedge funds or VCs (minus EIRs). And yes, you 100% find those willing to take a chance on startups. Why is this point just disregarded in your comment above? Give credit to the industry where credit is due. Lastly, companies also instruct candidates to dress down in their interviewing guideline. Many will go ahead and clarify if you're ever confused and just ask. Sure, interviewers should disregard attire when judging candidates but it's not like it's out of the interviewee's control when it comes to NOT wearing that 3-piece suit. It's like when a candidate has bad BO. Sure, you don't want to have that unconscious bias, but maybeee, just maybeee, it's also the candidate's fault.

Reedx 7y ago

Yeah, wearing a suit for a tech/game job interview will only hurt your odds and it definitely won't help. It's rare when someone interviews in a suit, but when they do it comes up in evaluations and not as a positive indicator.

Traster 7y ago
It's hilarious that we've come full circle on that. It was dropped because it was absurd that you'd need to wear a suit in order to be a good engineer especially when you never see a customer. It's equally absurd to suggest that wearing a suit makes you any less qualified- but everyone has seen that one movie where Steve Jobs acts like a douche and hey presto! The entirity of SV ends up exactly as judgey as Wall Street but in exactly the opposite direction.
- sushid 7y ago
  I've only had one interviewee dress in a full suit and he was the worst candidate I ever interviewed in my life. Couldn't write a line of Java although his resume claimed he had over 12 years of experience using mostly Java. Knew nothing about insertion time of arrays which I threw as a freebie when I realized I wasn't going to hire him anyway. It could just show that the candidate is out of touch with the tech scene, which might mean that they're not going to do as well as some other candidates. I do agree it discriminates against those who may not be from the area or from a traditional background, but SV is nowhere as "exactly as judgey as Wall Street." SV as a whole is way more meritocratic and willing to take a chance on smart candidates. Try telling Goldman that you're a hard working candidate who has been studying up econ and finance textbooks on your own and would like an internship. Lastly, discriminating against someone for NOT wearing a $1k sounds a lot worse than wearing one. You can always dress down but not everyone can dress up!
  - Traster 7y ago
    Well obviously there ARE clear differences between SV and Wallstreet- but largely those barriers come from more concrete places. If you are managing money you generally have regulatory and fiduciary responsibilities. For example, you can't expect to be hired as an accountant without a requisite CPA exams. Whereas there simply aren't the same systems in place for most places in SV. It's worth noting that this is part of the reason SV gets a bad wrap when it moves into regulated areas with the attitude "Let's disrupt"
  - groby_b 7y ago
    > SV as a whole is way more meritocratic and willing to take a chance on smart candidates. That was funny. Have you tried doing standup? Yes, there are startups that do take those chances. But SV as a whole... not really. It's just as bad on using degrees as a filter as any other place. > Try telling Goldman that you're a hard working candidate who has been studying up econ and finance textbooks on your own and would like an internship. Try telling that to a large number of companies in SV and you'll find similar results. > Lastly, discriminating against someone for NOT wearing a $1k sounds a lot worse than wearing one. It sounds about equally bad to me. It's not a matter what people can or cannot do about it, it's about the fact that you use completely irrelevant details to guide your decision.
    - sushid 7y ago
      > That was funny. Have you tried doing standup? What's with the "witty" personal remarks? My comment wasn't directed at anyone personally so I'm not sure why you're trying to make it personal. There are definitely non-traditional candidates that get hired at large, public SV companies (e.g. FB, GOOG, UBER, etc.), some without even a degree. These guys worked hard to stand out with personal projects and countless hours of self-study and are definitely the exception to the norm, sure, but you can't even find an equivalent of that in investment banking and certainly not at hedge funds or VCs (minus EIRs). And yes, you 100% find those willing to take a chance on startups. Why is this point just disregarded in your comment above? Give credit to the industry where credit is due. Lastly, companies also instruct candidates to dress down in their interviewing guideline. Many will go ahead and clarify if you're ever confused and just ask. Sure, interviewers should disregard attire when judging candidates but it's not like it's out of the interviewee's control when it comes to NOT wearing that 3-piece suit. It's like when a candidate has bad BO. Sure, you don't want to have that unconscious bias, but maybeee, just maybeee, it's also the candidate's fault.